PR Winners and Losers from House of Cards

Like so many people, I’ve been glued to the second season of House of Cards, or #HoC on Twitter. Aside from NFL games or the occasional Discovery channel documentary, I do not watch much TV.

Yet every now and again there’s a show that sucks me in – Lost, House, MD, Spartacus, and now House of Cards as well. I justify the mindlessness of watching a show like this with the rowing machine parked in front of the television, which is not a credit to Frank Underwood’s choices in exercise.

To that end, I’ve leaned towards thinking about the real life effects of the show in terms of winners and losers:

House of Cards PR Losers

1) Politicians. Perhaps it’s Kevin Spacey’s unorthodox manner of looking directly at the camera that invites the viewer to cheer on the villain. In reality, the affinity for crooked politicians starts and ends with the on-and-off button on a remote control.

The series merely amplifies the low opinion people already have of politicians and accents the worst of politics. For example, according to Gallup polls, public opinion of the U.S. Congress has never been lower and the daily poll of the current Administration shows growing dissatisfaction with job performance.

This is not to say that all politicians are crooks, but the depiction of politicians back-channeling in this show feeds current notions around politics.

“The absence of censorship for the Chinese broadcast of the series is somewhat surprising in light of the rigid scrutiny normally applied to other foreign cultural imports, such as films and books.”

2) Newspapers. The Wall Street Telegraph? Why the fake newspapers? The show is obviously making references to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and the Washington Post and unlike the portrayal of politicians, journalism is generally portrayed as uncovering truth in the show.

I posed this question in Quora and the sentiment reflects a natural assumption: copyrights. In reality, this is a missed opportunity for a product placement for an industry under incredible financial pressure. The PR team at the Washington Post would do well to push for an agreement with the producers if they create a third season, which given the demand, seems quite plausible.

All of these newspapers gave the show plenty of buzz; it seems logical to me they should get a little in return.

House of Cards PR Winners

3) Netflix. Netflix is an obvious winner, especially fresh on the heels of an Emmy win, but it’s the magnitude of the victory that is so compelling:

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but suffice to say both companies have an interest in executing on an agreement.

4) TV News Talking Heads. Unlike their peers in print journalism, the TV talking heads made several appearances throughout the second season; most notably, Fox News and MSNBC, among others.

A reporter from the “Wall Street Telegraph” was interviewed by Hardball’s Chris Matthews, whose cameo was realistic — complete that drivel of salvia that often appears on the hosts lips when he gets fired up.

It’s a smart PR move for any network to be featured so prominently in the most popular of popular culture; especially given the ratings wars.

* * *

Are there other winners and losers you’d add from the show? What lessons might marketing professionals take in terms of PR, social media or content marketing?

About Sword and the Script Media, LLC

Based just outside Atlanta, Georgia, Sword and the Script Media, LLC is veteran-owned public relations agency immersed in the business-to-business (B2B) marketplace. We focus on building consistent, sustainable, repeatable, and process-driven programs for PR, content marketing and social media. A defining difference comes down to our approach – that marketing ought to have utility. This is because marketing that helps, sells better than marketing that hypes.